Super Street Fighter IV Fanart

Enjoy some fanart from Pixiv to celebrate this week's release of SSF IV.

The Best Franchises Abandoned by Sega

Sega has a long history of building up cool franchises and then ignoring them like a dead orphan. Here is the rundown of franchises that would still make money if Sega wasn't retarded:

Alex Kidd- The awesome Master System and early Genesis had some good games going for it. Alex Kidd in Miracle World, Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, and Alex Kidd in Shinobi World (I miss Shinobi too) all hold a special place in my oldschool gaming heart. These games were nice platformers with enough charisma to compete with any Mario game. Too bad Sonic came along in the early 90's and Alex Kidd (Sega's initial mascot) was tossed to the side in favor of the blue hedgehog and his "Blast Processing". He has made a small comeback recently in a kart racer and Sega tennis game, but Alex has not starred in his own title in a long time. I think the time is ripe for Alex Kidd to return. Give him a new 2-D XBLA or PSN title...better yet call it Alex Kidd in Golden Axe World.Phantasy Star- I know we get online Phantasy Star games all them time, but I am talking about the original series. Phantasy Star started as an awesome space adventure RPG on the Master System. The series ended with Phantasy Star IV on the Genesis, which happens to be the best RPG on the system and a strong contender for best RPG of the 16-bit generation, only behind the phenomenal Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. Sega re-releases this series regularly on it's collection disc, so why not give it another shot? A new Phantasy Star could become the JRPG to beat Mass Effect...or at the least the horrid Star Ocean series.
Streets of Rage- The Streets of Rage series is the pinnacle of beat em ups. I loved Final Fight, but where was the kickass music? In Sega's SOR, that's where. I don't know when walking around punching 500 dudes in the face or kicking crazy trannys in the nuts got old, but it is time to bring it back. Also what other series let you do those cool things with a freakin' kangeroo?Shenmue- The Dreamcast is my favorite retro system. Shenmue is one of the reasons it means so much to me. Ryo Hazuki, young karate student, has his father murdered right in front of him by a Chinese gangster known as Lan Di. Ryo then travels around Japan and China to find the bastard and uncover a plot about some magic mirrors along the way. The series stopped at the second game however, and Sega doesn't seem to care about finishing the plot since they lost a ton of money on the original two. I read in a recent issue of RetroGamer, that the rights to Shenmue are being offered by Sega to any company willing to finish the series. I hope someone takes them up of this offer. I hope even more that the company to pick it up is Bioware.Golden Axe- Golden Axe: Beast Rider doesn't count as a new game in the series, I don't care what Dave Halverson has to say about it. Golden Axe was the essential Conan ripoff. It had brutal violence, scantly clad women, swords, and sorcery. I also loved kicking the crap out of little gnomes to get more magic. Here is some advice for Sega: Re-release Golden Axe: The Revenge of Death Adder on XBLA or PSN, it will make you alot of money and make gamers happy.
Hopefully one day Sega gets their shit together and makes a return to the glory days. Bayonetta was incredible and Sonic 4 looks like it will be tons of fun; these are both steps in the right direction. If Sonic can make a comeback, then I have faith the franchises above can be revived as well.

What Would Super Street Fighter IV Look Like on NES?

I found this awesome 8 bit image today and just had to share it. They all kinda look like Mega Man bosses from the old days. Beware of Ken Man, his power is the mighty Spam Shoryuken Attack!

Marvel vs Capcom 3 is Confirmed ( Possibly Will Take You on a Ride As Well)

I am not talking about another Mugen poject. Last week, Capcom held it's annual Captivate event in Hawaii. All of their new games were on display and were supposed to be kept secret until next week. That was the plan, but one site said, "fuck that nonsense."
http://news.vgchartz.com/news.php?id=7838

This is great news for fighting fans and comic nerds. Since I fall into both categories, all I can say is thank you Capcom. Here are characters I hope make the new ( and supposedly huge) roster:

Marvel side

The Punisher- Frank Castle is just too cool to pass up and he has acquired two feature films under his belt since the last Marvel game.

The Fantastic Four- Dr. Doom needs his real rivals, plus the Thing is one my favorite heroes.

Blade- Watch out Darkstalkers, Wesley Snip...erm...Blade doesn't mess around.

Thor- He is a freakin' thunder god. Nuff said.

Dark Phoenix- She is super powerful and her lack of compassion would make her a fine choice for this game's endboss.

Capcom side

Dante- The hero of the Devil May Cry series would fit right in with the vs. series. His combo heavy attacks would be fun and the ability to become a demon would be a neat gimmick as well.

MegaMan X- He is seriously the only MegaMan not to be used outside his own series. X is a badass, he needs to be in this game...especially if they add Zero.

Bayonetta- She is like a female Dante...possibly even stronger. She would be really fun to have in here, plus she is pretty sexy.

Gene- I know not many people played Godhand, but the main character was practically built for a fighting game. He fights like Kenshiro from Fist of the Northstar, if you think that is lame...You are already dead.

Wesker- The ultimate villain from the Resident Evil series need some vs. series representation. If he fights like Agent Smith from the Matrix like in Resident Evil 5 then it would be even sweeter to have him as a selectable fighter.

I guess some more official announcements will be heard this coming week or next week. Knowing Capcom they will drag out each character unveiling for months, so who knows when we will know the full roster. I just hope we get some cool surprise along the way. I'm crossing my fingers for the characters I mentioned and some weirdos like Phoenix Wright!

So Long Super Nintendo Collection

I am parting ways with my SNES and Super Famicom games via eBay. I have them all listed right now, and the auctions will last till Sunday evening. It is a sad day, but I need the money right now. Here are a few of the fine games I am selling:

Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy II
Donkey Kong Country 2
UN Squadron
Super Mario Allstars + Super Mario World
Chrono Trigger
and many more...

Here is the link to my auctions: http://shop.ebay.com/lastknight01/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_from=&_ipg=&_trksid=p3686

I am condensing my collection to the SNES Powerpak from RetroUsb. It should be pretty damn awesome when it gets here.

Sonic, You Little Rascal...

Insane and hilarious comic, CLICK TO ENLARGE!

Gaming + Girls = Hotness

I think every guy who likes games and girls also like seeing the two in a great fusion of hotness. It is pure geek ecstasy. I decided to scour the net and celebrate some of these fine ladies posing cosplay style or with games. Enjoy this heavenly combination of beauty and geekdom!

Super Mario 3, the girl has taste.

I think we just found where they were keeping the Triforce.

Zelda burlesque is awesome.

So is Princess Peach burlesque...

Justin Bailey would be proud.

Throw in Princess Leia and I can die a happy man.

This is from the game, Queen's Blade. I've never played, but I am thinking I should start.

Cammy would be jealous.

I need to move to Japan...

Final Fantasy sure produces some nice cosplay.

That is it for this update. I was originally going to do an 8-bit comparison thing, but it seemed kinda lame. I did keep one funny picture to share however:

1up?

Gaming for Easter Weekend

I will have a good amount of free time today, so I shall be doing some hardcore gaming. I picked up MegaMan 2 at a thrift store yesterday for pretty cheap. It is so hard, but I did manage to beat Woodman earlier this morning. I traded Resonance of Gayness (yes the game got lame quickly) for Sakura Wars for Wii. Sakura Wars is oddly addictive like a harem anime with some mech fights thrown in for good measure.
I will be heading to my mother's house for Easter tomorrow to have some good home cooked food Have a Happy Easter!

Sega Fanart

Here is some nice Sega fanart from the talented artists of Pixiv:
On a semi-related note, Virtual On: OT is on sale on XBLA for 800 pts. Woohoo!

Best Games You've Never Heard of: LSD (PSX)

LSD is a very offbeat and elusive import for the original Playstation. The game is not mentioned hardly ever, but consists of one of the coolest concepts in gaming. LSD was released in 1998 in Japan as a dream simulator. The product was one of the three released at that time, the other two being a music CD and book, which described the dreams of an Asmik Ace staff member who kept a dream journal for ten years.The "game" puts you into a random dream design based on a large number of basic level designs with 500 patterns of background music used for each dream sequence. The dreams can be really surreal and creepy with one part of a dream taking place in a dark city where the only other person in sight upon approach has their head fall off (wtf) then this leads to the next dream where you are running through a small maze from sumo wrestlers. You can end the dream early by falling off a cliff, though they rarely last past ten minutes anyway. When the dream ends you are presented with a chart of where your dream puts your state of mind at the time. It is pretty awesome and strange at the same time.LSD is a very rare game, but one well worth tracking down. It is a novel piece of software that gives you the chance to look at dreams through someone else's eyes. The graphics are very primitive and most of the music samples lean toward sheer madness, but something kept me coming back again and again. Also, don't believe what you read elsewhere, LSD does have an ending. You simply need to trigger every dream FMV that can occur in the game. It is a long process, but I played it for around a month, and I was able to do it. Check this weird game out, just don't do it while on drugs, that sounds like a nghtmare in the making.
For more info: http://www.mac.kadath.org/Media.html

Resonance of Fate Fanart

Resonance of Fate (aka End of Eternity) just released, and it is pretty awesome. To celebrate this underdog release here is some nice fanart from Pixiv. Enjoy.

Deadly Premonition: Xbox 360 Review

Deadly Premonition got a bad rep almost instantly from IGN. The site gave the game a 2. In a "challenge" of sorts, Destructoid gave it a 10. Neither of these two scores represent an accurate reflection of the value of this game; so I am going to break it down in a semi-professional review style.

Deadly Premonition was initially shown at TGS in 2007 as Rainy Woods. The game was created as a homage to the old show, "Twin Peaks." The homage went a little too far and the creators had to change a few things to avoid a law suit. What we get is the somewhat edited version of their dream project which comes out as a weird hybrid of Shenmue/sandbox game/horror/murder mystery. These elements combined make a pretty unique game that is well worth the $20 admission fee.
The game was released with minimal advertising as a budget title. I picked it up after seeing the controversy at Destructoid regarding it's score. The story follows FBI agent Francis York Morgan (York to his pals) and his alter ego, Zach, through their investigation into the red seed mystery and the "Raincoat Murderer" in Greenvale. The investigation involves questioning suspects, finding clues, and searching haunted areas where the killer lurks. In between these events, the player can choose to goof off with fishing, random fetch quests, and darts.

The graphics aren't going to win any awards. They look very primitive compared to games like Gears of War or Mass Effect, however they do have a certain charm to them. The graphics would be perfect on PS2, but not the 360...four years into it's lifespan! I never saw the graphics as a huge flaw, but do not go into this game expecting an awesome tour-de-force of visuals; you will be largely disappointed.

The music ranges from offbeat to "why the hell are they playing this now?" I can't recall the music ever truly being consistent in one scene, as it will go from a serious sax and piano song for mood purposes to a whimsical tune with whistling in seconds. This can break serious tension in the game's more climatic scenes, but often times you don't mind as the dialogue is just as unusual and campy. My one big issue with the sound is the music often overpowers the character's voices, making some scenes hard to understand. I attempted to fix the audio levels, but it didn't seem to matter.The action gameplay itself is messy. The game starts off on the wrong foot with the first hour being a boring zombie hunt through a dark forest. This crappy area will give you an idea of how the later haunted areas play out: dull and predictable. York wanders through zombie infested areas filled with monsters and crates as he searches for clues to his case. One cool (but overdone) part has you running from the Raincoat Killer, the main antagonist. These sections break the monotony and keep you on the edge of your seat kinda like the Clocktower games.

The detective gameplay is a little better. You drive around the town like Grand Theft Auto, talking to fellow cops or suspects for leads. You can choose to eat dinner and sleep, as you have a meter for both of these things. They will never piss you off as there is always ample power ups to stake off hunger and sleep deprivation (Hello black coffee!) Deadly premonition offers plenty of mini games and side missions for those who get bored with the main storyline.

The controls are pretty bad as well. The controls in the action scenes control like the first three Resident Evil games, oldschool tank controls. While I never died over poor control issues, some scenes could be annoying when the camera reversed (reversing the control scheme with it.) The driving sections also control pretty badly.

You maybe curious now, why do I like this game? The insane characters and really weird story are awesome. Detective York has a split personality which he talks about 1980's films pretty often, one character is secretly a crossdresser, one guy always wears a gas mask, and another dude makes everything he says rhyme at the end of his sentences...the list goes on and on; the characters are very memorable in that "Twin Peaks" sorta way. The story has so many turns, you will never know who the real culprit is. Also the campy dialogue that seems straight out of an Ed Wood movie had me laughing pretty often. I would give this aspect of the game a perfect score.

A few boss fights occur toward the end of the game. These fight are pretty cool and are a definite change of pace from the four other enemies in the game. My only complaint is the heavy use of quick button press sequences to dodge attacks, it is very annoying. Also the final battle is a little too easy in my opinion.

Deadly Premonition is one of the strangest games I have played and beaten in a long time. The controls, graphics, and music are all kinda shitty. However the game's wacky nature gives it a "so bad it's good" feel toward the whole ordeal. After you beat the game, a bonus section opens up showing a photo gallery with pictures of the "real" Greenvale. The dedication they went through to make this game look like the town and give it the surreal feeling of a David Lynch film is amazing. I would recommend this game to people who love weird cinema, the Clocktower series, or cheap yet entertaining games. In the end, if I have to assign a number to Deadly Premonition it would be 7...but assigning numbers is lame, so I will just say: BUY IT, THE GAME IS 20 DOLLARS!

Randomness:

• Be on the lookout for a scene that plays the full song of "Amazing Grace" for no apparent reason.
• The original game had the two angelic children in the dream sequences played by two midgets in tuxedos and the main character looked very similar to the main character from "Twin Peaks." These cool David Lynch tributes were edited out of the final version.
• Deadly Premonition aka Red Seeds Profile was released in the US before Japan. A strange move made even stranger by the fact that it will be released at full price in it's homeland.
• I am ranked 74th in the Leaderboards for this game. Am I just that damn good or did only like 75 people buy it? You decide.